Dinewan- Aboriginal Australian SpiritSpirit · Beast"King of the Birds"

The Trick of the Wings

In the Dreamtime, Dinewan the emu was the largest of all birds and was acknowledged as their king. This status rankled the bustards, the Goomblegubbons, and none more than the Goomblegubbon mother, who burned with jealousy at the Dinewan mother's standing among the birds. So Goomblegubbon devised a plan built on vanity and fear.

She squatted down and doubled in her wings so tightly against her body that she appeared to have none at all. When Dinewan approached, Goomblegubbon challenged her: why not do without wings? The Dinewans, to be king of birds, should have no need of them. When the other birds see that a Goomblegubbon can manage without wings, they will make a Goomblegubbon king instead.

Dinewan, fearing the loss of her family's kingship, took the bait. She persuaded her mate to cut off her wings with a combo, a stone tomahawk, and then she cut off his. Only when both Dinewans stood wingless did Goomblegubbon laugh and spread her own hidden wings wide: "I have taken you in, old stumpy wings!" From that day the emu has had no wings and cannot fly.

The Trick of the Brood

Dinewan, furious at the deception, plotted revenge in kind. She hid all but two of her chicks and went to Goomblegubbon, telling her that she had killed the rest because a smaller brood meant more food for each, making the surviving two stronger and finer than any large clutch could produce. Goomblegubbon, taken in by the same kind of cunning she had used herself, went home and killed all but two of her own brood. When she discovered that Dinewan's other chicks had merely been hidden away, it was too late. The dead could not be brought back. From that day the bustard has laid only two eggs per season, while the emu continues to produce large broods.